This past Wednesday, Sept. 26, economist
William T. Dickens addressed one of the most
important and debated topics in his field – the
relationship between inflation and unemployment
– in a lecture sponsored by the Economics
Department.

Dickens’ talk, which was based on collaborative
work with George Akerlof and George
Perry, suggested a relationship between higher
average inflation and lower average unemployment.

“His work could have major implications
for human happiness,” noted Visiting Associate
Professor of Economics Jonathan Lipow, referring
to the impact Dickens’ work could have
on lowering unemployment. “It may be an
important piece in understanding what controls
joblessness in industrial economies.”

However, Oberlin Danforth-Lewis
Professor of Economics Ken Kuttner points
out that Dickens’ research from 1996 is “controversial,
as it implies a ‘long run’ tradeoff
between unemployment and inflation.” Kuttner
contends, “There is no solid evidence [of such
a tradeoff].”

Though he has sparked debate in macroeconomics,
Dr. Dickens has not limited his
research to this area. Dickens’ recent work
applies the precise models employed by economists
to psychology, a practice he felt was lacking
from the latter field.

Dickens has added to the psychological
debate of race and intelligence, arguing that
genetic variations can influence intelligence
within the same ethnic group, but that social
conditions mostly define the differences in
early childhood success between races.

Dickens used the example of a group of
boys with equal height playing basketball with
a boy who is slightly taller. At a young age, the
height advantage makes it easier to shoot so the
taller boy will be rewarded early for his talent
and given specialized training to improve passing
and dribbling.

Being taller doesn’t make him an inherently
better basketball player but it does explain
why he has developed into one, argues Dickens.
He applies the same reasoning to younger students
with, for example, longer attention spans.
They will be rewarded early and encouraged to
learn more by their schools and parents. In this
case, intelligence is made, not born.

“I’m a product of the ’60s and ’70s,”
remarked Dickens casually. “I fell in love with
economics as a way to systematically analyze
social problems.”

When asked what motivated him to integrate
psychology and economics, Dickens
responded, “I was frustrated [in graduate
school] by the way members of the profession
approached economics with blinders on.” He
noted that economics often fails to take into
account the human aspects of productivity such
as procrastination and motivation.

Reflecting on his graduate school days
and the constant critiques of his Massachusetts
Institute of Technology professors, Dickens
added jokingly, “It seems much easier until you
actually do the work yourself.”

Dickens received his undergraduate degree
from Bard in 1976 and his PhD from MIT in
1981. He has written numerous papers dealing
with broad topics, from cognitive abilities and
IQ gains to labor market policy. He also spent
16 years as a professor of economics at the
University of California, Berkeley.

Dickens is now directing the International
Wage Flexibility Project: an expanding 13-
nation research team dedicated to painstakingly
gathering and analyzing data funded by
the European Central Bank. Dickens presented
the IWFP’s work to the economic world in a
paper published in the spring 2007 issue of
The Journal of Economic Perspectives and
again to Oberlin students on Wednesday. He
is currently working on compiling the IWFP’s
findings into book form as well as tackling
the more theoretical problems raised by his
research.

Dickens was brought in to chat and eat
mushroom and sausage pizza with students and
faculty as part of the economics department’s
Danforth-Lewis Speaker Series. The series will
host five more speakers in the fall semester.